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The Five Best Books Ever!

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1) The Stress of Her Regard: Tim Powers. A rich novel based around the lives of the Romantic Poets, The Stress of Her Regard explores and capitalises on the gaps in what we know about Shelley, Byron and Keats' lives. With vampires unlike any you'll find elsewhere the novel is both fantastic, and terrifying.

2) Rats and Gargoyles: Mary Gentle. Urban Fantasy set about a massive, alien city where the gods dwell in an unholy 'fane' in the centre of the metropolis. The novel follows a conspiracy to force the deities to withdraw from the world, while in the darkness of their temple, the God of Noon and Midnight seeks to unravel the very existence of the soul itself.

3) American Gods: Neil Gaiman. Set in America, this novel follows Shadow, an ex con, as he takes a job with the mysterious Mr Wednesday. In doing so he steps into a world of madness, magic and mystery, where the old gods are real and at war with the new ones.

4) Anno Dracula: Kim Newman. Dracula has taken the throne of Britain. He controls the British Empire and has ushered in a world where vampires walk the streets openly. But all is not well, Jack the Ripper works in the shadows, killing vampire prostitutes, and as Charles Beauregard and the vampire elder Genevieve Dieudonne investigate the killings they discover a Pandora's box of troubles.

5) Lost Souls: Poppy Z Brite. A vampire novel with a difference, Lost Souls takes place in the dark, quiet places of America. Focusing on a boy called Nothing, and his quest to reach New Orleans, the novel pits him against the dangers of the world, and against those of his own blood, literally. Lost Souls brings the dark sensuality of the Goth subculture to the novel.

When Michael Crawford discovers his bride brutally murdered in their wedding bed, he is forced to flee not only to prove his innocence, but to avoid the deadly embrace of a vampire who has claimed him as her true bridegroom. Joining forces with Byron, Keats, and Shelley in a desperate journey that crisscrosses Europe, Crawford desperately seeks his freedom from this vengeful lover who haunts his dreams and will not rest until she destroys all that he cherishes. Told in the guise of a secret history, this long-awaited tale of passion and terror is finally back in print after more than 20 years.

American Gods, the extraordinary, highly acclaimed epic novel from storytelling genius and international bestseller Neil Gaiman, was brought vividly to life this year in the hottest major TV show of 2017 , and Amazon Prime video series starring Ricky Whittle, Ian McShane, Emily Browning and Gillian Anderson. For fans of The Book of Dust and Mythos by Stephen Fry.After three years in prison, Shadow has served his time. But as the days and hours until his release tick away, he can feel a storm brewing.Two days before his release date, his wife Laura dies in a mysterious car crash, in adulterous circumstances. Dazed, Shadow travels home, only to encounter the bizarre Mr Wednesday, who claims to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America. Together they embark on a very strange journey across the States, along the way solving the murders which have occurred every winter in one small American town.But the storm is about to break . . .Disturbing, gripping and profoundly strange, Gaiman's epic novel sees him on the road to the heart of America.

It is 1888 and Queen Victoria has remarried, taking as her new consort Vlad Tepes, the Wallachian Prince infamously known as Count Dracula. Peppered with familiar characters from Victorian history and fiction, the novel tells the story of vampire Genevieve Dieudonne and Charles Beauregard of the Diogenes Club as they strive to solve the mystery of the Ripper murders.

Sex, blood and rock'n'roll - from the master of gothic horrorAt a club in Missing Mile, just outside New Orleans, the children of the night gather. They dress in black and they're looking for acceptance. There's Ghost, who sees what others do not; Ann, looking for love; and Jason, whose real name is Nothing, seeking the deathless truth about his father - and himself.But into Missing Mile tonight come three beautiful, hip vagabonds: Molochai, Twig and seductive, green-eyed Zillah. They are on their own lost journey, slaking their ancient thirst for blood, aching for supple young flesh.In Nothing and Ann they find it. Now Ghost must pursue them all. To save Ann from her new friends, to save Nothing from himself.First published in the early 90s, Lost Souls redefined the vampire novel for a new generation and remains unsurpassed in its dark wit, graphic descriptions and its power to send shivers of panic and pleasure down your spine...